Hey Arnold!: The RPG
by Orange Ratchet
Summary: After getting a Game Boy for his late birthday present, Arnold decides to play around with a couple games he got, one of them including an RPG-like game. But after going to bed and waking up, Arnold finds himself in an RPG version of his world, with video game tricks in motion. Arnold, believing this to be a dream, decides to ride it out. Slight Arnold x Helga, Gerald x Phoebe
1. Press Start to Begin

All right, I've been going around, reading a lot of fanfiction on other sites based on this sort of plot, and I haven't seen this plot done on the 'Hey Arnold' section, so I decided... why not give it a go? Either way, I'm sure you're going to enjoy it. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

It was another sunny day in Hillwood... oh no. Wait.

It was a RAINY day in Hillwood City. Thunder started to crash as lightning struck somewhere on a hill as the downpour continued. Only a few visible cars were on the streets, windshield wipers activating on each car. But a green car that was on the road happened to turn in next to a red apartment building known as the Sunset Arms boarding house. The green Packard then parked itself inside a garage as an old man wearing a brown raincoat and holding a bag came out. Quickly, he ran inside as he looked around. The old man smiled as he noticed who he wanted to see was in the kitchen, attempting to clean out the cupboards.

"Ah, there you are, Shortman!" Grandpa Phil smiled as he approached the boy as he looked over.

"Oh, hi Grandpa. I'm almost done with the cupboards." Arnold said as he was straightening out the last cupboard. "And... there we go. No cup unturned, no Tupperware unstacked, and not a single sight of a mess anywhere."

Grandpa examined the cupboard as he smiled, "Good work, Arnold, you are of good use. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you."

"Yes?" Arnold looked over.

"Well... remember last week when I said my birthday gift for you was still in the mail and that you'll have to wait a bit?" Grandpa asked.

Arnold raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Where are you going with it?"

"Well... it may be late, but it's finally here!" Arnold's grandfather smiled as he handed Arnold a bag. "Sorry about the wet bag, but you never know with this crazy weather around!"

Arnold's eyes peaked in curiosity as he opened the bag... and then his eyes widened as he gasped as he pulled out a box containing a white handheld console. "You got me a Game Boy?"

"It wasn't easy to get one, I had to set aside some of the collected rent from the boarders just to get it!" Phil smiled. "Fortunately, I managed to sucker Oskar into a bet and he lost some money to me, so it was the easiest bit. The hardest bit was waiting until this thing was released itself! So... I pre-ordered in advance, and when the day came, I had to bolt over and get it."

Arnold smiled as he opened the box and pulled out the handheld console, examining it. "W-wow, Grandpa, th-this is really cool!"

"I figured you'd like it!" Phil said. "I've heard most of the cool kids have their own video game consoles nowadays, so I figured you needed to get with the times!"

Arnold looked around in the bag as he pulled out two games that came attached. The first game was basically 'Tetris', and the other game was 'Legend of Futto Boru'. Arnold examined the second game in curiosity, before looking back up at his grandpa, still holding the smile. "Thank you, Grandpa!"

"Anytime, Shortman. Don't worry about the rest of the chores. You go on ahead to your room and enjoy that game! But don't get too attached to gaming!" Phil laughed.

"Don't worry, I won't be too distracted!" Arnold said as he started to go upstairs.

* * *

Once upstairs, Arnold had settled down in his bedroom as he looked at the Game Boy, then the two games. Arnold then opened the box and pulled out the 'Legend of Futto Boru' game and popped it in the handheld console out of curiosity. After inserting some batteries in the console, he turned the game on as the Game Boy activation sound was heard.

Arnold then looked at the game title and raised an eyebrow as he saw that the 'Legend of Futto Boru' was surrounded by a magic aura and a sword. Arnold raised an eyebrow as he knew what type of game it was. He guessed it was one of those JRPGs. "I wonder where they're going with this..."

Arnold started the game and he saw his character standing in front of another character. Arnold tilted his head in confusion as he pushed the A button to talk to the character in front of him.

"Hello there. My name is Talia. You must be the legendary hero sent to save our world. I'm sorry, can I have your name please?" A text of words appeared in the bottom half of the screen.

Arnold blinked as he pushed a button as the 'Enter Name' screen appeared. Arnold just shrugged as he typed in his name and pushed the button.

"So ARNOLD is your name. Not the type of name I expect from a hero, but I'll roll with it." The character said in the game. "I'm sorry for summoning you, but I need your help. You see, our world has been riddled with monsters and they have been going out of control! We need your help to calm these monsters down. Are you willing to help us?"

Arnold paused as he looked at the screen as an option menu appeared... displaying the 'YES' and 'NO' options. Arnold figured that the game wouldn't progress anywhere if he hit 'NO', so he said 'YES'.

"Oh, thank you. I had my doubts, but you look like someone helpful. Now, I need to test your combat skills, so... please choose whatever weapon there is on the shelf, and we'll test you out."

Arnold then moved the buttons to walk his character around as he noticed an exclamation point floating around the table. Moving towards the table, Arnold pushed the 'A' button as the character spoke.

"These three weapons serve an individual, but very reasonable purpose. The shield is good for defense, but lacks offensive strategies. The staff will give you more magic, BUT the matter of HP, your HIT POINTS, are another story. And the sword will help you with offense... but you probably won't have any magical skills. Which of these would you like to battle with?"

Arnold paused as he selected the sword.

"Here I come! Don't held back!" The character said as the screen shimmied for a moment before revealing both his player character and the other character... Talia, that was her name... in battle as Arnold looked at the menu. Arnold then noticed that Talia was giving him instructions as he read it. Arnold started to get an idea on what to do as soon as he started navigating around the menus. Pretty soon, Arnold was done with training with Talia as he looked over.

"Huff... puff... boy, you sure do know your training! Okay, you seem worthy! Let me come along with you so that I can aid you on your quest." Talia said in the text boxes.

The box that said 'TALIA has joined your team' appeared as Arnold nodded.

"Okay, this doesn't seem like a bad game. Looks okay for what it is..." Arnold said as he finished up the text boxes and went to a nearby save point that Talia said was here. As soon as Arnold saved his game, he turned it off and pulled out the cartridge. "I'll have to take a look at it again after I try out the other game."

As Arnold laid aside the 'Legend of Futto Boru' cartridge aside, Arnold then inserted the 'Tetris' cartridge in the Game Boy as he started to play around.

Unfortunately, Arnold was so engrossed in trying to complete lines and beat out the high score in Tetris that the Legend of Futto Boru game was laid aside, forgotten.

And as soon as Arnold was called down to dinner, Arnold turned the game off as he started to head down.

* * *

After dinner and a board game night, Arnold headed straight back into his room as he collected his Game Boy and the cartridge as he laid them next to his computer.

"Not bad for a rainy day..." Arnold smiled as he noticed the 'Legend of Futto Boru' cartridge... and groaned. "I'm just sorry I didn't go further in this... maybe tomorrow, when I have some free time."

With that said, Arnold decided not to fight against his sleepiness anymore and just went off to bed, letting the moment of sleepiness get to him.

* * *

The next morning, Arnold woke up to a bright sunny day in his room as he got up.

"Ah... another morning..." Arnold smiled as he got up. He was about to pull his clothes off when he noticed that... he was already wearing his green shirt with red shirt underneath, blue pants and his shoes were on his feet. "Wait, what? I could have sworn that I had my pajamas on? How am I clothed up already?"

Arnold paused as he picked up his Game Boy and the cartridge saying 'Legend of Futto Boru' as he went down.

"Weird. Well, it's a sunny day, maybe I can show my games to Gerald. Maybe he'll be interested in playing a round..." Arnold paused as he took the Tetris game out. "Maybe I'll even show him this odd game I have. Maybe I'll get a little farther today."

Arnold started going downstairs as he suddenly became aware that the boarding house was dead silent.

"That's strange. There's usually a rowdy crowd downstairs at breakfast." Arnold said to himself as he started to go down to the living room. "Grandpa? Grandma? Anybody?"

Much to his surprise, the boarders and his grandparents were nowhere around as Arnold raised an eyebrow. "That's weird..."

Arnold then slowly walked over to the door and opened it... and much to his surprise, somebody was standing in front of it.

Or rather, bobbing in place in front of the door of the Sunset Arms hotel. And Arnold recognized this figure too well.

"H-Helga? What are you doing here?" Arnold asked.

It was then Arnold noticed that Helga wasn't talking... but standing in place and bobbing.

"Helga? Hello?" Arnold said, waving his hand to her face. To his surprise, Helga didn't respond. "Helga?"

It was then Arnold noticed something floating above Helga's head... which happened to be an exclamation point hovering. Curious, he touched the exclamation point as it disappeared.

"Thank goodness I've found you!"

Arnold yelped at the first syllable that uttered out of Helga's mouth. Arnold looked up to see a relieved Helga standing in front of him.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you, but there's something I need your help on, Football Head! Or... I'm sorry, what do they call you?" Helga asked.

Arnold just looked at Helga strangely as he said, "You know who I am, Helga?"

Helga was back to bobbing in place, staring blankly at Arnold.

"Helga?"

It was then Arnold noticed that his Game Boy was on. Arnold raised an eyebrow as he looked at the game... and his eyes widened as he noticed the 'Enter Name' screen.

Arnold looked over at Helga, then at the screen, wondering what was going on. Curiously, Arnold entered his name and pushed 'Start'.

"Oh, that's right! ARNOLD! How did I forget a simple name like that?" Helga smiled as she used her hand to slap her own face.

"Wha-" Arnold looked at the game as he noticed that what Helga was saying was repeated on the screen. "What is going on? Am I..."

Arnold paused as he looked at Helga as she continued, "Listen to me, ARNOLD! We don't have much time. I need to lead you over to Gerald Field! Something strange is going on! Can you help me?"

It was then Helga stopped talking and bobbed in place yet again. Arnold looked at the game, then looked at Helga, bobbing in place. Arnold paused. "This must be a dream where I'm in an RPG. This is..."

Arnold smiled. "No wonder I woke up in my regular clothes! Well, I guess if I'm dreaming, I may as well play around with this while it lasts." Arnold smiled as he looked at the 'YES/NO' options on his Game Boy screen. With a smiling thought, he pushed the 'YES' option.

"Great! Follow me, come on!" Helga said as she stood in place.

The screen text box on the Game Boy then said, "HELGA has joined your party'."

Arnold pushed the button as Helga stood behind Arnold. Arnold nodded as he said, "Let's see where this dream goes..."

With that said, Arnold walked out of the boarding house and headed to Gerald Field, with Helga following behind him.

* * *

I'll end the first chapter right here! How did you guys like it? There's more to this Video Game Plot coming, so don't miss out! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!


	2. Arnold and Helga's Stats

Let's move on to the next chapter, then, shall we? Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Arnold and Helga were starting to head towards the area where Gerald Field was as Helga kept oddly quiet, which did surprise Arnold, as usually, Helga was more talkative.

Arnold stopped, soon followed by Helga, who was now standing and bobbing in place. Arnold examined Helga as he looked at the girl.

"So... let me pause here for a second... if this is an RPG... does this mean you and I have stats?" Arnold asked Helga... but yelped as he saw his Game Boy lit up, having the answers.

 **INVENTORY  
STATS  
CONFIGURATION  
BACK TO GAME**

Arnold looked at the menu... before saying, "What's Configuration?"

 **CONFIGURATION**

 **CAMERA ANGLE: FIRST PERSON  
CONTROLS: INVERTED  
DIFFICULTY: MEDIUM**

"So that's what Configuration means... it's how I'm supposed to set up how I can play... er... camera angle?" Arnold asked.

 **CAMERA ANGLE: THIRD PERSON**

Arnold yelped as another him jumped out of his body as he was now looking at himself and Helga in a different angle. Now he was seeing the Arnold that was him was now standing in place and bobbing, like Helga is. "Never mind, go back to that first one!"

 **CAMERA ANGLE: FIRST PERSON**

The other Arnold then went back inside the bobbing in place Arnold as that Arnold quickly recovered, sighing in relief. "Okay, that was a little freaky... now, let me see the difficulty."

The game made a negative pinging sound as Arnold raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm... guess I have to unlock the other difficulties as I play the game then."

Arnold then went back to the pause menu as he looked at the menu. "Er... Stats."

Both a picture of Arnold and Helga appeared respectively. Arnold nodded. "My stats, first."

 **NAME: ARNOLD  
HEALTH: 100/100  
MANA: 50/50  
** **WEAPON: ?  
LEVEL 1- 0/200 EXP Points  
STR- 5  
INT- 5  
WIS- 5 (+3)  
HRT- 5  
LUC- 5 (+2)  
MONEY- $0.00**

 **Story: Arnold has been living with his grandparents, Phil and Gertrude Shortman, for as long as he could remember. His father is named Miles, and his mother is named Stella. He bears no grudge against them, as he understands why his parents had to leave, though he wishes that the mission they were on did not take so long. His hope is to reunite one day with his parents. His best friend is Gerald Johanssen. He does not hold any grudge against anybody.**

 **STATUS: Wise And Thoughtful, giving Arnold +3 in WIS, +2 in LUC, and the ability to help people when their hopes are down. 90 percent chance it will work.**

Arnold looked at the stats in wonder as he paused. "Okay, so... STR must mean my strength. INT must be my intelligence, WIS is my wisdom, LUC must be lucky points, but I don't know what HRT means..."

Arnold paused as he looked at Helga. "Er... Helga."

 **NAME: HELGA PATAKI  
HEALTH: 150/150  
MANA: 50/50  
WEAPON: Ol' Betsy and the Five Avengers  
LEVEL 1- 0/200 EXP Points  
STR- 5 (+3)  
INT- 5  
WIS- 5  
HRT- 5 (+4)  
LUC- 5 (-1)  
**

 **Story: Helga was born to Big Bob Pataki and Miriam Pataki, two parents who do not go along together. More attention was looked at to her older sister than Helga herself, which Helga felt lonely and isolated. It wasn't until she met ? in preschool that things started to turn around for her. Unfortunately, she couldn't get close to ? without being teased by her fellow schoolmates, so she put up a front to hide her true self and made everyone afraid of her. Some people think she's all talk, but her punches tell otherwise. They can really pack a wallop. Despite that and always finding a way to insult ?, she only does that because she likes the boy. Will this girl finally come out of her shell and confess to the one she loves? Only time will tell.**

 **STATUS: Tough, But Fair, giving Helga +3 in STR, +4 in HRT and -1 in LUC, and the ability to dodge enemy attacks, with a eighty percent chance of success.**

Arnold kept silent as he read over Helga's story as he looked over at the bobbing Helga. "W-wow... I never knew that about Helga... I don't know if this is a dream, but... suddenly, I kinda feel bad for her. Whoever this boy she likes is... I hope she gets him."

Arnold looked over at Helga as he looked at his Game Boy. "Er... Back to Game?"

The game resumed as Arnold looked over at Helga and coughed. "Er... Helga?"

Arnold poked her standing in place position for a bit... which caused her to move. "No time to talk now, ARNOLD! There's something going on in Gerald Field, and we need to get there!"

Arnold blinked as Helga went back in place. Arnold paused and poked her again.

"No time to talk now, ARNOLD! There's something going on in Gerald Field, and we need to get there!" Helga just repeated the same lines.

Arnold sighed as he looked down. "Okay... you can't talk... all right, let's just get to Gerald Field."

With that, Arnold started walking with Helga following him. As soon as he saw Gerald Field in view, Arnold's eyes widened as he saw three figures standing inside the field.

"Wolfgang? Gerald? Phoebe?" Arnold asked as he saw the three figures bobbing in place. Arnold took another step before Wolfgang started moving.

"I have you cornered, fourth graders!" Wolfgang smirked towards the bobbing figures. "Now you're going to know the meaning of a real pummeling."

"Oh no! Wolfgang has GERALD and PHOEBE!" Helga gasped in horror. "ARNOLD, we need to stop Wolfgang from hurting our friends, and fast!"

"Should we do that? Because Wolfgang seems to be standing in place to me. And Gerald and Phoebe have blank stares, like you seem to do every time you end talking." Arnold said, but Helga already went back to her blank stare mode.

Arnold sighed as he started to move towards Wolfgang.

"Wait, ARNOLD! You need to have a weapon in order to get sense knocked into Wolfgang!" Helga said, stopping Arnold as he turned towards her. "Fortunately, there happens to be three different weapons nearby! Pick one so we can protect our friends!"

"Must we? I mean, I'm sure if we can talk to Wolfgang, we ca-" Arnold started before Helga went back to blank stare mode. Arnold looked over to see the three weapons... a baseball bat, a scientific beaker, and a boomerang. Arnold examined each one as Helga started talking.

"The Baseball Bat. That will be useful for cracking skulls! But you won't be able to have good defense." Helga said as Arnold went over t the next weapon. "The Science Kit. Good for increasing your magic and learning spells... but not the best attack stat." Arnold went over to the last area. "The boomerang. Balanced weapon for offense and defense. Though you will level up slower."

Arnold, with no better option, picked the baseball bat.

 **ARNOLD picks up BASEBALL BAT! +3 in STR**

Arnold nodded as he looked towards Wolfgang as he approached the bobbing Wolfgang and touched him.

Wolfgang frowned as he looked down at Arnold. "Oh come on! Another fourth grader? Oh well, it'll be good for the scrapbook!"

"ARNOLD, man, thank goodness you're here! Help us!" Gerald said.

"I would, if..." Arnold started before Wolfgang put up his hands.

"Prepare for a beating you'll never forget!" Wolfgang said.

Arnold sighed as he held up the baseball bat. Looks like he had no choice but to battle as Helga stood right beside him, fists ready.

* * *

And with that, the second chapter is at its close! How did you guys like it? Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!


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